Love's Sacrifices
by Rainey Lennyn
Summary: When Tommy disappears, Billy finally has the chance to share what's in his heart. The question is...will he? Please RR!
1. Default Chapter

Deep in the mountains not far away from the town of Angel Grove, a spaceship of huge magnitude was hovering just above the ground. With hydraulic hisses a ramp lowered to the dusty terrain and a man emerged. He stood at the opening, a strange look on his face-relief, wistfulness, maybe even joy. As if unsure he slowly walked down the ramp until he stood on solid ground, each step deliberate yet wary. Without a word, he raised a hand in farewell to the other inhabitants in the ship. Understanding his unspoken command the vessel closed up and glowed with power, its massive engines roaring. Then just as quickly as it had come, it disappeared-a lonely streak of odd light across the afternoon sky. The man sighed and looked out to the horizon at the pretty, bustling town he had grown up in. Billy Cranston whispered,

"I'm home."

……

Katherine Hillard paced the confines of the command center, stopping to stare at the viewing globe very two minutes. She read reports of numerous diagnostics and equations of travel velocities used in teleporting, numbers and letters flying through her head in dizzying clumps. They were all starting to blur together in her exhaustion. She hadn't slept in three days, spending each waking hour pouring over computer readouts and maps. These last three days were a waking hell for her, one that had started when in mid-teleportation, Tommy Oliver had disappeared. Following that the remaining rangers had been driving themselves crazy trying to find him. There had been no breakthroughs though. There was still no sign of the red ranger and Kat was convinced something horrible had happened. Whereas everyone else had at least gone home for some needed rest, Kat had stayed, working tirelessly. Until last night, that is. In the middle of searching the center's databanks, she had drifted to sleep, her head falling into a pile of books in front of her.

She had seen mountains and mountains, endless horizons of peaks, drenched in darkness. Falcons cried, wolves howled and she had frightened out of her mind. From the high pinnacle where she stood, she kept seeing glimpses of red appearing and dissipating in the valleys below her. On the wind she heard a voice that kept calling to her. She knew without question that it was Tommy. As she tried to scramble down the mountain, a figure appeared before her in the form of a ghostly Native American man. He never spoke a word; just threw a helmet at her. In horror she watched as it rolled to her feet and she recognized it to be Tommy's.

She had awakened then, dripping in a cold sweat. There was no way she could decipher all this by herself; she needed help if they were ever going to get Tommy back again. In a half asleep frenzy, she had put out a call to all ex-Rangers. And now all there was to do was do her best and wait to see if they would answer the call. The slide of the main door jerked her from her reverie. She called out without looking,

"Tanya, I don't care what you say I'm not go-"

At the tall, broad-shouldered figure that strolled in, her mouth dropped open and she gasped,

"Billy?!"

In an instant she had wrapped her arms around her old friend and was weeping into his chest. He shushed her gently, smoothing her hair and mumbling comfort. He asked quietly,

"Where's everyone else?"

Pulling back and stepping away, her nose red, she sniffed,

"Oh I sent them all home a while ago. They'll be back any minute. But Billy, I didn't expect you to come. I just sent the call out to everyone. I never expected you to leave Aquitar."

"You didn't think come back to help one of my oldest friends?" he replied, looking a little shocked. "Katherine, nothing is more important than the bonds we formed as Power Rangers. It's imperative we find Tommy-nothing else matter right now." He took a step back to survey the wilting Pink Ranger and he smiled gently, "You look like you haven't slept in days and I deduce that that's because you haven't. Correct?"

"Possibly," she shrugged but couldn't make it believable. She nodded tiredly, "Okay, you're right. I haven't slept at all since…you know."

She swallowed hard and looked like she was going to burst into tears again but Billy took her by the arm. Leading her to the door, he ordered,

"Go home and get some sleep. Please. I'll start working on this and I'll be here when you come back, I promise." He gave her a wide grin and teased, "A shower would be okay too." 

Laughing weakly but genuinely, she took Billy's hand and said honestly,

"You're a good friend, Billy."

With that she pressed her communicator and in a flash of iridescent pink she was gone, leaving Billy alone with his memories. Slowly, soaking it all in, he walked around, trailing his fingers along the blinking switchboards he knew so well. It was like greeting an old friend, being in this place. He remembered all he had experienced here and distantly could hear the booming of Zordon's voice and the nervous chatter of Alpha 5. He had never admitted to himself how much he had missed the Command Center. It was essentially where he had grown up and learned his greatest lessons, made forever friends and had even fallen in love. At that particular thought, he cringed and pushed it far away. He settled himself into a chair in front of one of the many computers and set to work, his fingers flying over the keys. He saw immediately that Kat had done enormous amounts of calculations and theories; he had always known she had the potential to be incredibly intelligent. He racked his brains as he searched through the mainframe, trying to track Tommy's biorhythms down through the massive grid. He remembered one of the last times he had been here, when the aging disease was slowly pulling apart his cells and gradually killing him. All his friends had gathered around him but none as much as Katherine. She had spent many hours keeping him company, making him smile, forcing him to laugh. Although the Aquitians healed him, Kat had kept him alive. 

He let loose a long breath and fought the guilt that washed over him. Even though Tommy had been his friend for years, he knew it wasn't for Tommy that he had come back. Deep inside him the truth was ice-cold. He had come back to help Kat.

……

After sleeping at least eight hours and taking two showers, Kat returned to the Command Center with a renewed sense of hope. With Billy aiding in the search, they were sure to find Tommy. She couldn't count how many times Billy's irreplaceable brains and wisdom had saved them. He would come through for them again; she just knew it. Inside the main console of the center, it was crowded with Rangers. Her heart sprang up her throat in joy. Everyone had answered the call; everyone was one here. She saw Aisha who had traveled all the way from Africa. She saw Rocky and Jason and mostly unfamiliar faces she knew to be the original Rangers. She saw…her previously buoyant heart dropped…Kimberly. She shook her head and scolded herself inwardly. Of course Kim would come; she had loved Tommy much longer than anyone else had. No matter how badly their relationship had ended. 

From amongst the chattering masses Billy waved to her over the heads of the crowd. Smiling brightly she made her way over to him and exclaimed,

"My god, this is amazing! I should have known everyone would come but it's still shocking! This is great, isn't it?"

Billy nodded; his eyes misty like some of the reunions he had just encountered had struck a chord. He said simply,

"I think I've got a plan."

"You do?! Well let's hear it! Does everyone else know?"

Billy shook his head.

"Negative. I waited for you. I thought you should be the one to give the orders. I mean, you _are_ the one that got us all here." 

"Alright," she agreed reluctantly and began to clap her hands for attention. "Everybody! Hey, listen up! We have to find Tommy as soon as possible. If the Machine Empire gets word that Tommy's missing, they'll strike hard and fast."

"That's assuming they weren't the ones that took him," Jason Scott shouted out.

"Correct," she nodded. "Now as you all obviously know, Billy left Aquitar to help find Tommy and in typical Billy Cranston style, he has a plan of action. Billy, go ahead."

Clearing his throat, he began.

"Well I've studied the biorhythms and charted their weight and capacity in the typical time-space continuum and I've think I've pin-pointed a general area where he must have landed or…jumped."

"Jumped?" Rocky DeSantos frowned. "What do you mean jumped?"

"Well without the old morphing grid, the way Rangers teleport was a little altered. It is possible that a person in mid-teleportation can divert and change their course with a certain code on the communicators, making it impossible for the viewing globe to find them."

"But why would Tommy do that?" Kimberly Hart spoke everyone's thoughts.

"I'm not saying he did," Billy replied. "I'm just saying it's a possibility. Anyway, the area is a part of the Santa Ana Mountain Range-a very wide area but with as many people as we have, it's possible."

No one noticed the color disappear from Kat's cheeks. Bits and pieces of her dreams haunted her. Could they be true? How could she have seen where Tommy was? And if the dream was real, then who was the mysterious old man? Her head clouded up with questions, she nearly missed Billy's instructions.

"Rocky, Kimberly and Justin, you'll be the Air Task Force. You'll fly over the mountain range with scanners. If you find him first, be prepared to skydive to his coordinates. Jason, Zack, and Aisha, you are A-team and you will start the search party in the north at Mount Clemens. Trini and Tanya, you will stay here and offer directions and keep our communications operational. Kat and I will head in from the south. The vehicles are charged to full power but the terrain will soon get too rough to handle. You'll have to do most of the journey on foot. All of you carry hand blasters and be ready for anything. Who knows what's out there."

Jason clapped Billy on the back and congratulated,

"Dude, way too sound like a leader. Why weren't you ever a Red Rangers?"

"Ah, trust me, not my style, "Billy chuckled. "They did always get the girl though, didn't they?"

Kat, already suited up with a determined look on her face, burst in between them.

"Enough chitchat, boys. Time to go."


	2. Chapter 2

They had been searching for almost half the day and had covered an enormous amount of ground. Yet there was still no sign of Tommy anywhere. The air team had had to refuel at least four times already and both A-Team and B-team were getting exhausted…except for Kat. Billy watched her with growing admiration, amazed at how she never seemed to tire or even slow down. He considered himself an epitome of health since his time on Aquitar but even he had a hard time keeping up with her. Finally when he noticed her start to sway as she climbed over rocks, he grabbed her hand and ordered,

"Alright, young lady, you're going to take a rest now. You can't keep going on this way-you'll just dehydrate yourself."

Kat shook her head in breathless protest and summoned enough breath to speak.

"No, I can't. What if Tommy's hurt or in serious danger? I can't let myself stop until I know he's safe."

"Kat, I'm not asking you to stop. Just please take a breather. For me, at least."

She sighed at his pleading look and slid down the side of rock-wall, leaning her head back gratefully. She took out her canteen and took a swig while Billy ran coordinates through his handheld scanner. She said quietly,

"Me and Tommy were supposed to have a date the night he disappeared. He was teleporting to meet me at this theater. We were going to watch Swan Lake and I was so excited." She smiled to herself. "You know Tommy-ballet isn't really his thing. Maybe he's not even in danger." The look on her face showed she wasn't convinced of this though. "Tommy's a brooder and when things bother him, he takes off but still…I've been having these dreams."

"Dreams? What dreams?" Billy's head snapped up in concern. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"I-I suppose I was frightened," she admitted. "And maybe a little in disbelief. I mean, how could I have known he was in the mountains."

"Your dream showed you this?!" he asked excitedly. "Tell me. What else did you see?"

"It was quite confusing. I stood on top of this peak and I kept seeing flashes of red. Then this old Native American man appears in front of me, just hanging in mid-air like a ghost. He says nothing to me and just throws Tommy's helmet at me."

Billy frowned deeply and buried his face in his hands in deep thought. Kat watched him intently, wondering what he'd make of it. Fiercely tapping his foot, he pulled out a small laptop from his pack and began to type with fervor. He spoke as he worked.

"Katherine, my dear, you may have just saved the day. I think I know who that old man is. See in this area before all the wagon trails west, there was a mysterious nomadic tribe. No one knows much about them except for the fact that they followed a man named the Falcon. He was a witch of sorts, a medicine man, the wise man-all of the above. The tribe's duties were to protect this area-the Santa Ana Mountains. They followed the fire season, keeping important, sacred locations protected. No one knows whatever happened to this tribe, you see. It's like when settlers came, they just disappeared with the wind."

"And you think the old man in my dream might be this Falcon? But what does that have to do with Tommy? And why would he come to me?"

"I can't even try to answer that. The only thing that I can guess is that maybe this is where Tommy's search for his heritage led him. Maybe it's possible that he is a descendant of this tribe."

Katherine jumped to her feet, any sign of her lassitude gone. She slung her pack back onto her shoulder and said animatedly,

"Well then let's go! Let's keep searching! If your theory's correct, then he should be here!"

A mysterious wind suddenly swept down the mountain peaks, shaking rocks down the cliffs and knocking the partners off their feet. They hit hard, eyes stinging from swirling dust and rock particles. 

"Billy, what's going on?" Kat yelled over the howling wind as she struggled to get to her feet, only to be banged against the ground again. She cried out as her eyes streamed and pebbles rained down on her. Crawling over to Billy's side who was trying to desperately shield his bag of instruments. He shouted,

"I don't know what this is but I've got a bad feeling about it!"

Suddenly the wind was gone just as soon as it had come. Billy and Kat slowly, cautiously sat up, absently brushing themselves off. Billy heard Kat's gasp before he saw the man. Standing in front of them, hovering and wavering like he was made of gossamer, was a Native American man. He was old and deeply lined, dressed in pelt robes and carrying a long walking stick. All color drained out of Billy and Kat's faces as he began to float towards them. Silence, if possible, whistled over the mountain range. All was still as they waited tensely for him to speak. Finally in a voice that somehow brought forth images of rushing water and the creak of trees, he spoke.

"You seek him."

A helmet, one they quickly recognized as Tommy's, rolled towards them. He opened a palm and glowing inside was a coin-a Power coin. He spoke again.

"He cannot be found yet. For there is one among you whose motives are not pure. The young falcon cannot be found until either his task is done or the heart of your group has changed. " 

Then he was gone, leaving Kat with tears in her eyes and Billy with a pain in his heart. Kat sniffed, running her hands through her blond hair.

"What is that supposed to mean? What is Tommy doing?"

Billy didn't answer. He stood a few paces away, his expression carved like granite. His clear blue eyes were darkened with tumultuous emotions as he stared up into the growing dim sky. Stars were beginning to sparkle and he glared at them hard enough to leave flashes of light behind his eyelids when he blinked. He told Kat to get some rest, take a nap. He offered to take the first watch and wake her up when he thought it was safe to search again. All his comments, all Kat's confused replies were soft blurs to his deaf ears. When he finally awoke from his reverie, Kat was sleeping lightly on a bedroll, clutching Tommy's helmet to her. He sighed, walking over to her and taking a seat, careful not to wake her. 

He thought of the time he and Kat had taken Tommy skiing to try and heal over Kimberly's cruel breakup letter. He had known even then that Kat wanted Tommy; she had been in love with him from day one. Just like Billy loved her. He could never tell her; he was the nerdy brother the girls consulted in, the one who helped patch things up. He was a fixer, not a lover. He never had anything to offer the beautiful Katherine anyway, his path as a ranger was short-lived. He was just the human version of Alpha, completely replaceable, not worthy enough to continue like Tommy and Adam. 

He couldn't help but love Kat. She was graceful, intelligent and kind; she always provided him with smiles and laughter. She had nursed him to the best of her abilities through his illness. His whole heart belonged to her. The day he had spoke to them through the viewing globe and told them he had decided to stay on Aquitar was the most painful day of his life. Yes, he had enjoyed it there and yes, Cestria had been a wonderful friend, but he had left for different reasons. Reasons no had ever known or could guess. It was more than obvious that Kat and Tommy were in love, more so everyday. The pain had become too much to take. The only choice was to leave; leaving would be the best gift for her.

Now he had come back, willing to face the pain to help her find her love and it was _his_ love that was ruining it. He knew that Falcon had been talking about him; it was his impure motives. Gently he ran his fingertips across her smooth white cheek, wishing he knew how the rest of her skin felt. In her sleep, she stirred slightly and parted her lips with a soft exhale. This drew his attention to her perfect pink mouth, the one he had always wanted to explore and make his own. Bravely he lightly pressed his lips to hers, scarcely breathing, afraid to wake her. Just the feel of her soft mouth was enough. A tear gleamed in his eye as he stood and walked away, without another glance.


	3. Chapter 3

Katherine awoke with a start, sitting upright, noticing it was dawn. Billy was nowhere to be seen. Panic rose up in her throat and she jumped to her feet searching frantically until she noticed a message left blinking on his laptop. With shaking hands, she picked it up and read slowly. _Katherine, for reasons you will never understand, I have to leave. Don't worry about Tommy. I have a feeling he'll find you before too long. Someday we'll see each other again._

Kat looked up in confusion, her eyes sweeping her surroundings. What did this cryptic message mean? Why had Billy left? Her thoughts dissolved like a bubble bursting when a tall figure appeared at the horizon. Dressed in pelt robes that the old Falcon had worn, Tommy opened his arms for her. Running and stumbling, she fell into his grasp, sobbing happily. Tommy whispered against her hair,

"I have so much to tell you."

……

Over the peak, sitting alone with his fists balled, Billy watched them from afar. He felt the emptiness nearly swallow him up at the sight of the embracing couple. Why did it seem his destiny to be denied all happiness? Next to him, the old man appeared and said lowly,

"He might not have returned if you hadn't left. The spirits knew you desired her and wouldn't have let him leave our world until you claimed her. His destiny does not include her."

"But she wants him," Billy replied, grinding his fists into the ground, feeling the physical pain a relief compared to his heart. "I can't stand in the way of that. I never have and I never will."

"Mark my words, young man," the old man whispered before dissipating. "When the young Falcon must join his people and fulfill his duties, she will be alone and then she will know of your love."


End file.
